Between Worlds
by AzureKate
Summary: when hope is kidnapped by a yuke, its up to vanille and ladies' man named layle to stop the yuke from kidnapping others from all the different worlds and save those that are kidnapped! HUGE crossover!
1. The worlds

**Vanille's Travels **

**World List**

I. Radiata Stories

II. Xenosaga III

III. Dark Cloud 2

IV. .hack

V. Rayman 2: the Great Escape

VI. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

VII. Ephemeral Fantasia

VIII. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

IX. Persona 3

X. Final Fantasy X

XI. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

XII. Super Mario Galaxy

XIII. Suikoden V

The End of the World: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers


	2. PROLOGUE

Vanille slowly approached Hope, who was sitting on the edge of the cliff in the grass, looking at Pulse. She came up beside him and leaned down.

"Something on your mind?" she asked, making him jump.

"Huh? Oh, I, uh- I was just thinking," he replied.

"About what? Something complicated?" she asked, tilting her head. He shook his head.

"I was just taking it all in," he said. "The sky here, the trees, the sunlight, the smells… When I was on Cocoon, I never even dreamed a place like this could exist. But now? Here I am, on Pulse. If I hadn't gone to those fireworks, if I hadn't been sitting in that same train car during the Purge… If anything had been different, I'd never have had a chance to see this."

Vanille shook her head and went to sit down next to Hope.

"No, I'm sure you would have wound up here. Don't you remember you promised me?" she asked, holding up her pinky finger. "You promised me that we'd come and see Gran Pulse together."

"Uh…really? I…when did I do that?" he asked, looking at her. She smiled and took his hand, wrapping her finger around his and shaking it.

"Oh, I don't know. How about another lifetime?" she asked, standing up.

"What does that even mean?" Hope asked.

"To tell you the truth, I've told so many lies, it's all a blur," she replied.

"Well, you know, sometimes you have to lie about stuff. To keep yourself going, because you're afraid. Or to protect someone else, so they don't get hurt. Sometimes, even the things that everyone in the world thinks are true turn out to be lies. At the end of the day, though, it's not the lie that matters, but what you do after you tell it. Work hard enough, and you can make it true," he said. He stood up and stepped forward. "I mean, maybe we both forgot. Maybe we did promise to see Gran Pulse together-and Cocoon." He stretched.

"Thanks, Hope," Vanille said.

"Do something for me, will you? Keep smiling," he said, turning and facing her. "I-it makes me happy when you smile."

"I-I didn't know you felt that way," Vanille said, blushing. She turned away with her hands on his face, but looked back at Hope when he started laughing. "Wait a minute. You mean you were joking?"

"Now we're even!" he said smiling, running past her. Vanille growled and turned.

"Hey! Wait!" she called, running after him and jumping up and down while he laughed.

Suddenly, a portal opened up in front of Hope, stopping him and Vanille. It swirled around like mercury as a tall creature stepped through. Hope and Vanille backed away cautiously. The creature was tall and thin, and appeared to be made of only armor. It had a long cape on that faded away into smoke. The creature stepped forward.

"We require one being from this world. And you have been chosen," it said, its voice masculine. It pointed to Hope. Vanille was suddenly pushed back as the creature appeared next to them, grabbing Hope's arm. Before Vanille could realize what had happened, both the creature and Hope were gone, and the portal was closing. Lightning and the others rushed into the clearing, calling Hope and Vanille's names, but Vanille ignored them.

"Hope!" she exclaimed, jumping forward toward the portal. She heard Lightning shout something, but she didn't care. She jumped through the portal just as it closed. Lightning ran over and examined the area before cursing while the others searched around frantically for any sign of either of them.

Vanille was pulled up by some strange force, a blue line, to a floating island, or rather a big floating rock. When she reached it, she was pulled up onto it. There was a fence (or something like a fence) surrounding a small spring that had changing images in it. She looked up and found a young man with blond hair looking down at her. He was wearing a golden and white jacket on it with fur on the collar, along with goggles. Underneath he had a yellow shirt and black pants.

"Well, helloooo there," he said smiling, extending his hand. Vanille scoffed and pushed it away before quickly standing up on her own, dusting off her skirt before looking at the man.

"Where did that creature go with my friend?" she exclaimed, looking around.

"Hey, slow down there. Lemme explain. That creature was called a Yuke. That particular Yuke has gone kinda mad…and it thinks it has to save the world by going around to a bunch of different worlds and gathering up people to use. And your friend, I assume that's who the Yuke just came through with, is one of its targets, the first actually. You just missed 'em, they went through to the next world."

"What's gonna happen to him?" Vanille asked. The man shrugged.

"I don't know. No one knows yet. The Yuke didn't talk to anyone or tell anyone about his plans. He just went right at it despite everyone trying to stop him," he replied. Vanille looked at the spring.

"Where did they go?" she asked.

"The next world."

"How do I get there?"

"Through that spring," he said. Vanille started to go toward it, but the man stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow it down. I'd be happy to take you there. The Yuke took my friend, too," he said. "I'm Layle."

"Vanille," she said, her eyes locked on the spring. "Well? Can we go?"

"Heh. Whatever you say, madame. Right this way," he said, walking her to the spring. The image in it changed to a castle surrounded by a town. "Ladies first."

Vanille gasped as he pushed her forward and into the spring.


	3. Chapter 01 Radiata Stories

**Between Worlds Chapter 1- Radiata Stories**

Vanille landed with a painful thud on dirt, accidentally getting a mouthful of it. Spitting it out, she coughed for a moment, spitting some more in an attempt to get the rest, as well as the taste, out of her mouth. She sat up on her knees, wiping the dirt from her eyes and face before opening her eyes. She had landed in a small village, a _very_ small village. There was an old woman sitting on a doorstep with a chicken, looking at her wide-eyed. A young man was standing beside her, up against the bricks, also wide-eyed. Vanille stared back up at them.

"Baaaad entrance," Layle hummed from behind her, making her turn and look. He was dusting dirt off his jacket. The man beside the woman drew his sword, aiming it right at Vanille.

"You're with that creature, aren't you?" he demanded. Vanille shook her head, holding her hands up.

"Wait, slow down! We're not with that creature, never! It kidnapped our friends and we're just chasing it!" she explained. The man's eyes narrowed at her.

"Hey, now," Layle started, standing up, making the man point his blade at him, instead. He was wearing a long blue coat with matching shoulder guards. Layle scoffed and thrust his hand to the side. Similarly to the blue line that pulled Vanille up onto the island in the other world, a blue line connected from Layle's hand to the man's sword, and as he thrust his hand, the sword flew from his hand over to Layle's. Layle examined the sword carefully, running his hand along the blade. "Nice sword."

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Or…what are you?"

"I'm Layle, and this here's Vasil."

"Vanille!" she corrected.

"Sorry, sorry," Layle said. He tossed the sword back to the young man, who caught it. He didn't raise it back up, but didn't sheathe it, either. "We're looking for that creature, which, by the way, is called a Yuke. It's gone a little mad and thinks it has to save the world by kidnapping someone from every world, and…well we don't know what it's gonna do with 'em. But we're gonna find out and stop it. Did it take someone from this world, too?"

"Yeah," he replied. "My friend."

"Oh, well, then," Layle started, extending his hand toward Vanille, who took it and stood up, dusting off her skirt and pelt. "Looks like we'll have to find three people, now. So what's your name?"

"Jack," he replied, finally sheathing his sword. "I'm a Radiata Knight."

"I'm a crystal bearer," Layle said. Jack tilted his head with a "huh?" Layle tapped the crystal on his cheek. "How do you think I got your sword like that?"

"What _are_ you people?" Jack asked. Vanille put her hands on her hips.

"We're all from different worlds."

"You expect people from different worlds to all be the same?" Layle asked. "Now tell us, where did you see the Yuke and did it go anywhere?"

"It was on the Ocho Region southwest-ish from here, I was following it and then you guys came through some silver thing. It was heading toward the castle but could have gone somewhere else."

"Did it have other people with it?" Vanille asked. Jack shook his head.

"But it did have a string with crystal looking things on it," he said. Vanille looked to Layle.

"Crystal idols? I thought they were gone. Hmm," Layle hummed. "Did he do anything with them?"

"He turned my friend into one," Jack replied. Layle looked at him like he was nuts.

"Well then they weren't crystal idols. Geez, what exactly is this Yuke doing?" Layle complained. Vanille shrugged.

"Should we be following him?" Vanille asked. Layle nodded.

"Jack! Lead the way!" Layle cried. Jack just stared at him. "Which way did it go?"

"Oh!" Jack said. He pointed toward a city in the distance. "It went towards that."

"Then let's go!" Layle shouted. He gestured for Jack to lead the way. After a moment he started walking down the dirt road, Vanille and Layle following.

"So who did it take from here?" Vanille asked as they walked.

"My friend Ridley," Jack replied, glancing back. "Just came through one of those silver things and grabbed her then took off. I tried to follow it but then two more people, maybe even weirder, came out of a silver thing, too."

"Hey, we're gonna save your friends butt. Don't say we're weird," Layle snapped. Jack shrugged.

"Not every day three people…well, two people and a thing…come out of silver swirling things. I think it's okay to say it's weird."

"Can you go any faster?" Layle complained. Jack sped up his walking.

"Hey, Jack!"

Everyone looked as a girl with green hair and pink armor came running from down a different path.

"Did you find her?" she asked, running over. Jack shook his head. "Well I see you found some other strange people…"

"Uh, yeah, they're old friends of mine. They're visiting," Jack lied. The girl's mouth dropped.

"Jack, this is hardly the time…!" she scolded.

"I'm on my way!" he argued. "They're helping me look!"

"Well, whatever. Make sure you inform a Knight of higher status if you find anything," the girl said before taking off back down the dirt road. "I'm going to Ocho to see if the silver thing is still there!"

"Visiting old friends, huh?" Layle asked, crossing his arms.

"Well what was I supposed to say? Aliens from another world that are chasing the thing?" Jack snapped.

"We're not aliens!" Vanille said. Jack shrugged, turning and starting toward the city, which was only down the road a little more and across a bridge. They followed behind him, slowing to look at the statue of a pig just before the bridge. When Jack noticed they were sidetracked, he stopped and turned around.

"Are you coming?" he called from the gate. They hurried across the bridge to the gate where they hurried into the city, passing guards. They gave funny looks but otherwise took no action.

Vanille looked around as they entered; it was a strange place, far different from Gran Pulse or Cocoon. Layle looked back at her, noticing she had slowed.

"Hey, come on, Jack's gonna leave us behind," he said.

"No, I'm not."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how different our worlds are…"

"What's your world like?" Jack asked, stopping.

"Walk!" Layle exclaimed, pointing in a random direction down a street. Jack gave him an irritated look and started walking backwards so he was still facing Vanille.

"It's nothing like this, I'll tell you. Our cities are much bigger, and, um…have more technology."

"I'll have to travel there sometime, it sounds interesting."

Jack turned around and looked for a moment. Vanille noticed it, too…Layle was gone.

"Layle!" Vanille called, looking around. Jack stood there with a dumb look on his face.

"Great! Now we have more stuff to look for!" he complained. Vanille pushed him gently down the street.

"Come on, we have to find him!"

As they proceeded down the street and turned a corner, screaming erupted. A young woman with long brown hair and a sleeveless dress ran down the street toward Jack and Vanille.

"Jack, Jack!" she cried. Jack stumbled a bit as she practically jumped on him. It was easy to tell she was frightened, but still. "There was something over there headed for Blue Town! It looked funny…it looked like walking armor!"

"There it is!" they heard someone yell in the distance. Vanille immediately recognized it as Layle and ran down the street in the direction the girl had come from and where she had heard Layle.

"Vanille, wait!" Jack called as he pulled away from the girl, chasing after Vanille as the girl ran in the other direction. "Wait up!"

Vanille didn't stop. Forget that. Hope was so close…

"Vanille!"

She hurried up a hill and saw Layle having a staring contest with the Yuke beside a fountain. Hanging from its belt was a string with three crystals attached to it, dangling freely. Jack had said it turned his friend into one…would that mean one of them was Hope?

"Release everyone, now, Yuke! This is ridiculous, why are you even doing this?" Layle demanded.

"To save the world, I must collect the souls of the purest from each of the connected worlds. Combined together will create the ultimate crystal which can protect our world from the approaching darkness!" the Yuke boomed. It had no mouth, so Vanille assumed it was speaking through telepathy.

_Collect the souls? What does that mean…? _Vanille thought to herself curiously, and worriedly at the same time. Would that kill the people whose souls were taken? What if it had already taken them? Could that be the crystals hanging from the string? Was she too late? What would Lightning say when she heard she had failed to save him…?

Jack was suddenly beside her, eyeing the Yuke angrily. His hand was on his sword and he was ready to draw, but Vanille held out her hand, stopping him. He seemed to object; he almost said something, but did nothing more.

"There is no approaching darkness, you are crazy!" Layle cried. "You need to release those people and get help!"

"I will not release these souls, I need them to save the world! Some may not be as believing as I, but make no mistake, you shall eat your words when the darkness envelopes you!" the Yuke said. It turned and ran. Layle took off after it, Vanille following close behind. Jack called something and five or six heavily-armored knights gave chase, as well, followed by what appeared to be knight captains. Jack yelled something to the knights, which confirmed Vanille's guess that he was a captain, as well.

They chased the Yuke up to the castle, which towered before Vanille, catching her eye for that one vital second. She crashed into a short fat man with a red nose, tumbling to the ground with him. Gasping as she hit the brick and rock she quickly scrambled to her feet and continued running after the animated armor, not even calling an apology to the man, who was screaming angrily at her. But again, she didn't care.

They entered a rather blue area of the city, which she assumed was the Blue Town the young woman from earlier had talked about.

"It's headed for the gate!" Jack called from behind. "It's going to try to escape the city!"

Vanille ran as fast as she could. She managed to catch up to Layle and the Yuke a little but was still quite behind. A large white building came into sight, and dozens of people were standing at its gate, most wearing a uniform. Vanille assumed it was a school. As they neared, the people began casting spells at the Yuke, some running after. Someone must have warned the school, which she now concluded was a magic school, that the Yuke was coming and to try to stop it. They fired ice, fire, wind, all kinds of spells at the Yuke, but it just covered the helmet of its armor with its hand and went right past, apparently unaffected. Vanille was starting to lose her breath but didn't stop. A gate came into sight. There was a line of light armor guards blocking it, but she could see them visibly shaking from fear. She knew they wouldn't be able to stop the Yuke.

And she was right; the Yuke blew right through them, knocking them all to the ground. Layle jumped over them, and Vanille did the same. She could still hear the clanking of armor behind her, indicating Jack and the other knights were still behind them, chasing.

As soon as the Yuke was across the bridge, it sped off at a much faster speed, almost as though it was gliding, and disappeared into the distance over dusty hills.

"No!" Vanille cried, slowing as she passed Layle, who had slowed to a walk. She went a bit farther before stopping. She turned and looked to Jack, who had just caught up and had stopped beside Layle. "Where is it going!"

"The elven cities lie in the north. It must be headed there."

"That's probably where it plans to leave this world and go to the next. Another portal has most likely opened there already, or is going to soon," Layle said, his hands on his hips.

"We have to go there!" Vanille exclaimed.

"Slow down, Vanille, it may be best to just go back to my world here and go ahead to the next. We won't catch it before it goes through."

"But what if that's not what it's doing up there? We have to be sure!"

"Calm down."

"I can't…! What would Lightning do if she found out I couldn't save him…? How would I be able to live with myself, knowing I couldn't save him? I couldn't save Cocoon, and now I can't even save my best friend…"

She felt arms wrap around her. Layle was hugging her, squeezing her tightly.

"We'll get him back. If not in this world, then the next, or the next. We'll go to the Elven cities to see what happened, but we'll fall behind if it's moved on."

"I know, but what if it didn't? What if it's just…hiding, or something? Maybe it expects us to move on and it will stay here…"

"The City of Flowers and Forest Metropolis are the two elven cities. The most magic is gathered around the City of Flowers, so we'll go there first," Jack said, walking over. Vanille nodded as Layle released her. Jack looked to the knights assembled behind him, as well as some of the students. "We're going to the City of Flowers! All who wish to help rid our world of the creature that has infiltrated it, come with us." No one moved to leave the group. They all remained and waited for them to start. "Great! Let's go! Someone return to the castle and inform Lord Dynas."

A young man in the uniform from the magic school took off back into the city, where tons of people had gathered. Jack turned and faced forward.

"To the Elf Region!"

They all started forward.

"Jack, I have a question," Vanille said, looking at Jack. They had been walking quickly through the hillsides of the Tria Region and entered the Nowem Region, according to Jack, and were making their way to Cuatour, and afterwards, Elf.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"What is that school we passed?"

"The Vareth Magic Institute," he replied. A Magic School, as she had guessed. "There's Vareth, Theatre Vancoor, the Olacion Order, and the Void. And then the knights."

"What do the others do?"

"Well, as you probably noticed, Vareth is the mage guild. Vancoor is the warrior guild, it's a bunch of warriors to take up jobs and missions. Olacion is the priest guild, they're good at healing and stuff. And the Void is the bandit guild. People pay them to, well, steal, I guess. Never was too active with the Void, so I don't know _exactly_ what they do."

"Four guilds?"

"Yep. Sometimes we commission them to help us on missions. Do you have guilds in your world?"

"No, we don't. We have different branches of military, though."

"Military? Are they ruled by a king?"

"No, they're all ruled by a Primarch and a Fal'Cie."

"What are those?"

"Well, a Primarch is kind of like a king, I suppose…he rules everything, but is under the command of a Fal'Cie, which is a huge, powerful creature. There are tons of them, one lights up and is the sun, another provides water, another provisions food, and more. They also mark people and turn them into l'Cie, and give them a focus, or a job to do. I'm a l'Cie."

"What's your job?"

"My friends and I are supposed to destroy Cocoon," she explained. Jack gave her a funny look. "Well, our world is split into two different places: Cocoon, a big sphere floating in the sky, and Gran Pulse, which is where I live. There are Pulse Fal'Cie and their l'Cie, and Sanctum Fal'Cie and their l'Cie, or Cocoon. Like I said Cocoon's government is in several different parts, it's called the Sanctum. There's the Cavalry, PSICOM, Guardian Corps., and more. Cocoon and Gran Pulse have been at war for a very long time. As a Pulse l'Cie, I'm supposed to destroy Cocoon with my friends to end the war."

"That's interesting," Jack said, listening very closely to everything she was saying. She noticed Layle was walking at the other side of her, also listening.

"Cool story."

"It's not a story!" Vanille exclaimed. "That's how it is in my world!"

"I know. The spring, which lets me see everything in the other worlds, is in _my _world. I've watched stuff happen in all of the worlds and I know how everything works in each world with the government and all. I watched your friend and some big buff guy who thinks he's a hero get attacked by the people of Pakumpokem."

"Palumpolum," Vanille corrected.

"Whatever, I don't pay attention to names. I watched the Pompoo Sank."

"Pompa Sancta!"

"_Whatever!"_ Layle cried. "You were crying, too! You've got some pretty cool stuff in your world, no matter how bad it is for you. Jack over here spends his time killing dragons."

"It wasn't my choice! I was just obeying orders!" Jack argued. Layle waved him off.

"Are we almost there?" Vanille asked.

"That bridge up there leads to the Cuatour Region. Beyond that is Elf, where the City of Flowers is. Normally we'd get in big trouble for trying to go inside, but we might have it easy this time…"

"Oh, yeah, the light elves hate humans," Layle commented.

"You're a stalker!" Jack exclaimed, pointing at Layle. "Creepin' on us at your spring!"

"I am not a stalker, I'm a curious guy! And the two of us aren't human so we shouldn't have a problem getting inside, if they believe us."

"What do you mean the two of you aren't human?"

"I'm a clavat; it's pretty close to a human but not the same. Vanille already stated she was a l'Cie, which isn't human, either."

Vanille noticed everyone, the knights and magic students, who had come along, were all listening very closely, as well, to everything they were saying. They arrived at a gigantic fallen tree, which connected the two huge plateaus together.

"Cuatour is on the other side, but it's nonhuman-controlled…Nowem is, as well, but the dark elves who live here don't hate us nearly as much as the dwarves, light elves, orcs, and goblins, who are all in Cuatour and Elf…" Jack noted. "We may have some problems getting through Cuatour. Elf is mostly vacant now because everyone is at Fort Helencia, but there are still some there."

Layle jumped with some mysterious power to the top of the tree, and, using the same strange blue line from before, pulled Vanille and Jack up. He quickly told Jack he couldn't lift the whole crowd and it would take too long for them to get up one at a time. Jack called down at them for them to climb up one at a time and continue. They obeyed while the three of them quickly crossed the tree, trying not to look down at the huge ravine beneath them.

"Welcome to Cuatour," Jack said as they walked down the huge tree limb to the ground. "We are now officially in as much danger as we could be."

"Why?" Vanille asked.

"Weren't you listening? Nonhumans are going to be mad that we're here. We're in the middle of a war."

"That's Fort Helencia," Jack said quietly. There were several elves and a dwarf outside swinging at the air with their weapons, practicing their moves. "And just like I thought, the elves aren't making this easy for us. One dwarf isn't bad but three elves _and_ a dwarf…Not to mention if we attack or are seen even more will come out from inside the fort."

"How will we get past?" Vanille asked curiously.

"I dunno, a diversion seems like the best."

Jack turned to the small group. "Guys, would you be willing to hold off the nonhumans long enough for us to get past the fort without being seen? Then afterwards explain all that happened?" he asked. They were silent for a moment, and all looked nervous. Suddenly, a man in purple armor and a white ponytail ran up from behind with a knight brigade following closely.

"Jack!" he cried. "You departed without me! It's my fiancée we're looking for here! To think you would leave me behind!"

All three elves and the dwarf looked.

"Dammit!" Jack cried. He jumped up. "Cross! You blew our cover!"

"Why were you undercover, you pathetic wimp, charge right through!" Cross cried angrily.

"Humans!" of the of the elves cried. It didn't take long for more to appear.

"Everyone, attack the fort! These three and I will continue on and further our search for the beautiful Lady Ridley!" Cross declared. The people hesitated but stood and faced the growing mob of nonhumans. While she had seen worse, _much_ worse, and battled much stronger by the looks of it, Vanille had no problem telling that the people were shaking at the sight of the massive red and green creatures, sporting horns and huge wooden weapons. She remembered Hecatoncheir. She could take them out so easily, but that would use up strength that she would need to save Hope…and she couldn't do that.

The group charged forward at the nonhumans, who did the same toward them. A huge battle erupted. She gasped as Layle grabbed her hand and began pulling her behind him as they followed behind Jack and Cross. They weaved through the battle; Vanille screamed as a dead human was thrown on top of her, knocking her to the ground and ripping her hand from Layle's, who whipped around and looked to see what had happened. Vanille quickly pushed the man off and climbed up, only to find a dark-skinned elf running toward her, holding his weapon high. Reacting automatically, Vanille cast watera on the elf, blowing him backwards and knocking him off his feet. Layle ran back to her and grabbed her hand again, but before they could continue to follow the knights, who were already well ahead of them, a huge red horned creature stomped in front of them. Layle was distracted, and was blocking Vanille. She saw Jack skid to a stop and turn around, a look of shock on his face. Clearly this beast was the terror of the world.

But Vanille had seen worse.

She shoved Layle out of the way and concentrated. After a moment, she finally released the power she had built up, casting a waterga spell. The creature was launched into the air by the massive pillar of water, going a good distance before plummeting back to the ground, stirring up a dust cloud as it hit. Everyone stopped and stared in shock, all of their eyes immediately flying to Vanille. Their faces showed their astonishment. Was this thing really the worst of their world?

"Why are they staring at me?" Vanille whispered to Layle who took her hand again and started to pull her along, only walking. Cross and Jack had stopped and were waiting, but Jack wasn't watching them; he was watching the people nervously, as though he was afraid of something.

And then one by one, they began to raise their weapons toward Vanille.

"Kill the dragon!" someone shouted. And immediately, they all charged toward Vanille and Layle.

"Dragon?" Vanille cried. "Do they mean me?" Layle wrapped his arm around her waist and threw his other hand up, using his power to pull them to the top of a tree. The mob of people, humans and non-humans alike, began attacking the tree instead in an attempt to knock it down to get to them. Vanille screamed as the tree started to give way and fall. Layle grabbed her again and jumped. They landed safely on the outside of the mob, who all turned and gave chase. Cross had unsheathed his sword and looked just as ready to charge and attack, and Jack stood behind him. Jack slowly unsheathed his sword, and Vanille felt her heart drop. Even Jack had turned on them.

And then the tables were turned.

Jack kicked the back of Cross's leg hard and he fell to the ground, the air forced from his lungs. Jack ran over him and hurried Layle and Vanille. Vanille pulled her hand from Layle's again and raised her hands. She cast an aerora spell and blew them all back without really hurting anyone, and continued on. They wasted no time with picking themselves up, but she just cast another aerora when they came close again. And then soon, the three of them were running well ahead of the mob. Jack adjusted his pace so he was running beside Vanille. "How did you do all of that?" he asked as they ran.

"L'Cie have magic power to defend themselves. I've just had a lot of practice. My friend Hope is even better than I am," she replied. She glanced back, only to see the mob was still chasing them.

"They're really ready to kill you," Jack said. "We don't like dragons, and they think you're a dragon."

"Do I look like a dragon?" Vanille cried.

"Dragons can take human form in our world," Jack explained. "And can use magic. Maybe not like that, but that doesn't matter to the people, it seems."

They came to another fallen tree bridge, with steps leading to the top. They quickly hurried up and across, and down the other side to the next plateau. Vanille suddenly noticed a change in scenery; there were suddenly white flowers and large white rocks and cliffs. They ran along a winding dirt path around one of the small cliffs and up a hill, where there was a wooden house, and a man wearing a long green tunic standing outside, apparently waiting for them. The three approached him, but didn't slow, even when he tried to call out to Jack. In fact, Jack pushed him out of the way as they passed. They hurried down the other side of the hill and through a cave. Emerging out the other side, they hurried down another hill and Jack finally stopped them beside a stream, which led into a huge crevice inside one of the larger white cliffs.

"The City of Flowers is inside there," he said, taking a step forward. But before he could, a dead light elf fell from the sky, landing in the stream before him with a splash. Vanille gasped and covered her mouth as the stream around the small elf turned red, his wings still flashing with every color of the spectrum. Jack gasped, as well, and took a step back, looking up as the Yuke descended from the top of the cliff. Vanille had been right, the Yuke had not left. The Yuke had several things in its hands, and Vanille's eyes widened when she recognized one of them.

A green crystal star.

Layle and Jack seemed equally surprised about the other two things it held, a red ribbon and a camera. The Yuke laughed as it touched the top of the water just behind the dead elf. The mob finally came into sight, but everyone froze at the sight of the suspended armor that was laughing, even though there was clearly no one inside it.

"Your attempts are futile, when will you realize it?" the Yuke asked. Layle growled and used his power to snatch the camera from the Yuke's hand, which only made it laugh. Vanille's eyes were locked on the crystal. "Silly people. Here. Something to remember your friends by. Don't bother trying to save them, because it's too late."

The Yuke dropped the ribbon and Hope's crystal into the stream as another swirling silver portal opened above it. It rose up into the portal and closed it behind it. Vanille darted forward, grabbing the crystal from the water while Jack chased the ribbon down the flowing stream, managing to catch it some twenty feet down the stream. Vanille squeezed the crystal in her hands sadly, looking at it. It was sparkling brightly, reflecting the rays of the sun that were shining down on it, and separating the rays into rainbows all around like a prism. Layle placed his hand on Vanille's shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Let's go on to the next world. We can catch it," Layle reassured her. She hesitated a moment, recalling what the Yuke had said, and then nodded. Layle concentrated and somehow managed to summon forth a crystal-like object that was floating above their heads. Vanille looked up curiously at it, and watched as Layle grabbed it with his powers. As he jerked his hand back, the crystal shattered and a swirling silver portal opened. Vanille stood up straight and took Layle's extended hand. But as they went to go through, Jack jumped up, clutching the red ribbon in his hand.

"Wait!" he cried. They looked at him. "Take me with you! Please!"

Vanille looked at Layle, who nodded, and then held out her hand to Jack. He quickly walked over and took it.

And the three, holding hands tightly, stepped through the portal. After a bright flash of light, they fell for a few seconds before Layle used his power to grab the floating island above them, and pull them up. They walked to the opening of the fence and looked down into the spring. "The next world is very different from your worlds. Are you ready?"

Vanille and Jack nodded. Vanille carefully placed Hope's crystal into the small yellow pouch on her right hip, making sure the pouch was closed securely, before taking Layle and Jack's extended hands once again. And after counting to three, they jumped into the spring.


End file.
